Wrestle Kingdom 12/New Years Dash

[metylerca]

Dec 2, 2017 22:50:38 GMT -5 andrew8798 said:

So dave said some major news coming later tonight on the observer show

When I heard this on this week's previous shows, I figured AXS would show them on the night of the 4th stateside, so an 18 hour delay.

[cabbageboy]

Is that official? I figured it would be maybe a 1 week delay and be shown in part on Jan. 12 since I think that's the first Friday that it would be feasible after the tape delay.

That Naito tweet has been on my mind today, especially since I watched King of Pro Wrestling on AXS. Clearly this is setting up a post WK storyline with Omega, with Naito being bitter that even in what should be his crowning moment a lot of people were talking more about the Omega/Jericho deal than anything he was doing. As such, it was a disturbing reminder of his 2013-14 failure to get over.

[metylerca]

Dec 2, 2017 23:27:57 GMT -5 cabbageboy said:

Is that official? I figured it would be maybe a 1 week delay and be shown in part on Jan. 12 since I think that's the first Friday that it would be feasible after the tape delay.

That Naito tweet has been on my mind today, especially since I watched King of Pro Wrestling on AXS. Clearly this is setting up a post WK storyline with Omega, with Naito being bitter that even in what should be his crowning moment a lot of people were talking more about the Omega/Jericho deal than anything he was doing. As such, it was a disturbing reminder of his 2013-14 failure to get over.

1 week delay was Meltzer's speculation on the Thursday show, I believe. They'd show it either in its entirety, or over the course of the month, an hour at a time, or maybe throughout an entire weekend.

I think if it's big news, it'd have to do with broadcasting it on the same day, perhaps in prime time. That would be more than enough time to edit for ad-breaks and perhaps clip some entrances for time, since it wouldn't be filmed for AXS like the Long Beach shows were. What I can say won't happen is AXS airing it live, since there's money to be made from NJPW World, and this is a time when the most possible eyes stateside will be looking for ways to watch. May as well make your $8.60 per head while doing it.

Re: Naito tweets. I figure he's winning the main event and going straight after Omega (or vice versa) at New Year's Dash, setting up their rubber match at Dominion or sooner.

[cabbageboy]

Consider that NJPW is doing the next Long Beach show around the time the New Japan Cup would be in its final stages. May as well have Omega win the tourney in Long Beach and set it up for whenever that pays off. Here's the thing though. If Omega gets another shot don't they flat out have to pull the trigger on him? If he comes up short again in a main event title match he's going to look like a major choker.

[metylerca]

Dec 2, 2017 23:45:27 GMT -5 cabbageboy said:

Consider that NJPW is doing the next Long Beach show around the time the New Japan Cup would be in its final stages. May as well have Omega win the tourney in Long Beach and set it up for whenever that pays off. Here's the thing though. If Omega gets another shot don't they flat out have to pull the trigger on him? If he comes up short again in a main event title match he's going to look like a major Goto.

Fixed for accuracy.

As a proud CSULB student who parks next to the pyramid, I would be so bummed out if Kenny goes for the title in Long Beach and loses.

[andrew8798]

Also you can't have Naito having another short reign

[metylerca]

Right. This would be the time to make it last a year or so.

[HMARK Center]

Kenny's only 0-1-1 in his heavyweight title shots: a good ways to go before he'd be labeled a choker.

Still, I could definitely envision a scenario where Kenny wins the belt off Naito, then eventually loses his deciding match against Okada, but who knows how things will shake out at this point, they're clearly trying to create a few intriguing scenarios going forward.

I do think, though, that you could get away with not having Naito as a really long term champion; in a way it might suit his character better. I'm sure a lot of that will be determined by ticket sales and long term crowd reaction, though. Either way, should he win in January he's sure to hold it for more than just a couple of months this time around.

[The Kevstaaa]

Naito going on a US tour in February as well as Gedo's love for Okada, makes me think Okada retains.

[cabbageboy]

Nah, if Okada simply retains there really isn't anywhere you can go with it. It's not like Naito would likely miss his NJPW dates by doing a U.S. tour, so him being IWGP champion is a nice little incentive for those promoters. I doubt he would do any jobs either.

Naito's character just doesn't work as a long term champion. I don't know if I want to see a guy refuse to lock up, spit on opponents, do his silly pose, and what not all the time as a world champion. On some level his act works as a rebellious type that is disillusioned by the system, but that sort of thing doesn't translate to being The Man. It's not like Austin had long title runs either.

I mean looking at the landscape, where do you go if not Okada to Naito to Omega? If Okada simply retains there's literally nowhere else to go since he's basically beaten everyone and is the longest reigning champion ever. A Naito win at least opens up potential rematches with Okada and also Omega, but if Omega doesn't win the title you risk him being a choker and sabotaging international expansion to keep the belt on a guy that frankly doesn't need it to be over. The one variable in this is the U.S. title, since I'm not sure where that goes. Oddly enough it might make sense to just have Jericho win it and be a 1 day transition champ to someone else if he agrees to do the Jan. 5 show, but it's hard to see how Omega looks decent after jobbing to a 47 year old Jericho. Or maybe Omega could just hold both for a while and someone could unseat him as U.S. champ when he burns the candle at both ends. Or maybe he is a transition IWGP champ and keeps the U.S. long term but at least can say he had the IWGP title.

[Deleted]

AXS has announced they will air Okada/Naito, Omega/Jericho, and Tanahashi/White on Jan. 6. in a 3 hour special. Then starting on the 12th they will start airing the show in pieces in their one hour weekly slot.

[brettappedout (BLM)]

Dec 3, 2017 13:27:03 GMT -5 @jinxed said:

AXS has announced they will air Okada/Naito, Omega/Jericho, and Tanahashi/White on Jan. 6. in a 3 hour special. Then starting on the 12th they will start airing the show in pieces in their one hour weekly slot.

Definitely watching this.

[chrom]

The Grand Puroresu Festival will be held the day before WK12.

Past couple years, there's been new debuts of Young Lions so maybe there'll be another one.

[Deleted]

Nov 5, 2017 16:11:08 GMT -5 @flaminghalo said:

So Power Struggle is done and now we're 2 months from the biggest New Japan card of the year and most of the title matches are set.

We have:

IWPG World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Tetsuya Naito

IWGP US Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs Chris Jericho

IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Jay White

IWGP JR Heavyweight Championship: Marty Scrull (c) vs Will Ospreay vs KUSHIDA vs Hiromu Takahashi

IWGP JR Tag Championship: Roppongi 3k (c) vs The Young Bucks

Roh World Championship: Cody (c) vs Kota Ibushi

So, what do you think of the card so far? What matches do you want to see added (I thought they teased Cody vs Makabe, which, ugh, and Ibushi should have a big match). Who does Suzuki defend against and will be it awesome or the drizzling shits all Suzuki's matches this year? How big a crowd can they draw to the Tokyo Dome?

Must admit it's the Main event and the JR matches that are really getting me hyped. Okada/Naito should be amazing, Takahashi is gonna tear the house down and I like R3k a lot. I only know Jay White by name and judging only by his appearance today, I'm not feeling him in such a big role. I don't dig the look and he doesn't feel like a star to me. But we'll see, I didn't get Naito until the G1 climax finals. Omega vs Jericho should be quite a spectacle. It's not going to match Omega's matches with Okada, Naito or Ishii, but damn it feels like such a big deal! I'm really hoping Ibushi, Ishii and Nagata get big matches as well after the incredible years they've had.

Added Cody vs Ibushi.

Well I'll enjoy the ROH match, Tanahashi and the world title. Possibly the Jr tag match too depending on how meta the Bucks get

[Fade]

Dec 3, 2017 13:27:03 GMT -5 @jinxed said:

AXS has announced they will air Okada/Naito, Omega/Jericho, and Tanahashi/White on Jan. 6. in a 3 hour special. Then starting on the 12th they will start airing the show in pieces in their one hour weekly slot.

Welp. Looks like I dont have to subscribe. I can just be patient and watch it for free.

[chrom]

Since there'll be big and flashy entrances at the show, think they'll have Ayumi Nakamura perform Kaze Ni Nare live like she has before?

[metylerca]

I want Marty Friedman to play Tanahashi to the ring again.

[YAKMAN is ICHIBAN]

I bought an Amazon Fire Stick so I could easily watch it on my TV

The app is FILLED with horrible english

[corndog]

Dec 3, 2017 11:02:24 GMT -5 cabbageboy said:

Nah, if Okada simply retains there really isn't anywhere you can go with it. It's not like Naito would likely miss his NJPW dates by doing a U.S. tour, so him being IWGP champion is a nice little incentive for those promoters. I doubt he would do any jobs either.

Naito's character just doesn't work as a long term champion. I don't know if I want to see a guy refuse to lock up, spit on opponents, do his silly pose, and what not all the time as a world champion. On some level his act works as a rebellious type that is disillusioned by the system, but that sort of thing doesn't translate to being The Man. It's not like Austin had long title runs either.

I mean looking at the landscape, where do you go if not Okada to Naito to Omega? If Okada simply retains there's literally nowhere else to go since he's basically beaten everyone and is the longest reigning champion ever. A Naito win at least opens up potential rematches with Okada and also Omega, but if Omega doesn't win the title you risk him being a choker and sabotaging international expansion to keep the belt on a guy that frankly doesn't need it to be over. The one variable in this is the U.S. title, since I'm not sure where that goes. Oddly enough it might make sense to just have Jericho win it and be a 1 day transition champ to someone else if he agrees to do the Jan. 5 show, but it's hard to see how Omega looks decent after jobbing to a 47 year old Jericho. Or maybe Omega could just hold both for a while and someone could unseat him as U.S. champ when he burns the candle at both ends. Or maybe he is a transition IWGP champ and keeps the U.S. long term but at least can say he had the IWGP title.

I would be incredibly surprised if Okada retains the belt and it wouldn't really make any sense. They are slowly building to Okada losing, he already has the longest title reign ever and the fans want to see Naito win. Most predict it will be a short reign for Naito, but I think it atleast goes to Dominion and maybe even all the way to Wrestle Kingdom 13 with Okada having to win the G1 to regain the belt. Many think that Naito won't work as a long term champion, but I actually think it could work very well. I would have him be a working man's champion defending the belt all over the world against anyone, anywhere and then say that New Japan is obsessed with getting the belt off of him. Then again, you could have Omega take the belt off of him and face Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 13. There are definitely several paths here.

I also don't see Omega dropping the belt to Jericho, this feels like a one off match. I could see Jericho being at New Year's Dash, but most likely in a tag match. It's rare to see one on one title matches at the show.

[Some Baritone guy IS REDEEMED!]

I'm going to say this right now, if Goto vs Suzuki is really the plan this was a really long way to go for Goto regaining the title.

I mean I didn't even hate Suzuki's title reign as much as a lot of people did but I find having a 9 month reign of shenanigans end to the guy he initially took the belt from to be extremely ridiculous.

Given I can't stand when someone loses the belt to somebody only to directly win it back from them in general (Largely because it has spread like a cancer to the industry) but this actually makes it worse because they had the chance to make a new star like Yoshi-Hashi but they're just reverting to their usual formula of Step 1: Put the belt on guy. Step 2: Have them lose and regain the belt in rapid succession. Step 3: Profit.

Seriously, New Japan's booking is as awful sometimes as their wrestling is brilliant.